


we give this life to our children and teach them to hate this place

by carrieevew



Series: Bellarke Bingo [5]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bellarke Bingo, F/M, POV Outsider, Teacher Bellamy Blake, Teacher Clarke Griffin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:27:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25148434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carrieevew/pseuds/carrieevew
Summary: The rumours about Mr. Blake and Ms. Griffin, their art teacher, had been flying around the school for months now, ever since the new year started and the students noticed that they started eating their lunches together. Once, someone even caught them eating from the same Tupperware container and since then, the whole school was buzzing with theories about whether or not they were dating.or: an outsider POV on the relationship of Arkadia High's two most popular teachers.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin
Series: Bellarke Bingo [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1417291
Comments: 10
Kudos: 167
Collections: Bellarke Bingo





	we give this life to our children and teach them to hate this place

**Author's Note:**

> guess what spent the last four months in my WIPs folder with a word count of about 500, only to finally get finished in two fipping days. oh yeah, this guy! hope you like this! 
> 
> title from [Life Burns!](https://youtu.be/9GDxKddP39Q) by Apocalyptica Feat. Lauri Ylönen

“I’m telling you guys, they were _holding hands_!” Ethan hissed, bowing his head, so that Mr. Blake wouldn’t see that he was doing everything but fill out the work sheet he’d been given. But come on, it was their last period before spring break and flipping no-one paid attention. Even Mr. Blake knew that, if he let them divide into groups and work on the assignment together.

“You sure she wasn’t just handing him something?” Madi countered in a bored voice, not even looking up from her work. The sheet was filled out already, obviously—Lend-Lease, please—and she was now drawing an intricate design of a laurel wreath. She already knew she wanted something like that for a tattoo when she turns 18 but she was still working on the specifics. It’s not like Mr. Blake would mind.

Delilah giggled lightly, probably more because she and Jordan were exchanging notes, ignoring their assignment completely, than because of what Madi said. Jordan’s neck sprouted some red blotches but he cleared his throat and looked around the table.

“Yeah, Jaha’s really been going at it with all those Victorian novels, I think you’re overestimating all those long glances,” Jordan commented and when Delilah chuckled into his shoulder, he went even redder. Madi smiled at the sight but rolled her eyes at Ethan and went back to her drawing.

The rumours about Mr. Blake and Ms. Griffin, their art teacher, had been flying around the school for months now, ever since the new year started and the students noticed that they started eating their lunches together. Once, someone even caught them eating from the same Tupperware container and since then, the whole school was buzzing with theories about whether or not they were dating.

Madi’s history class seemed especially invested in those rumours, seeing how they had it last period and every once in a while, Ms. Griffin would come by Mr. Blake’s room afterwards. Some of the students even started to stall as much as they could to maybe listen in to what the teachers were talking about but the exact nature of their relationship remained a secret—one that some of the students were getting desperate to uncover. There was a nice pool going around with the deadline at the end of the school year and whoever had the proof that they were in fact dating would win the bet.

Ethan screwed his face up and fell back against his chair.

“It’s like you don’t even want to find out what’s going on,” he lamented. Charlotte patted his arm with a smirk.

“Oh, we do. But we wanna win the bet more,” she said and everyone around the table chuckled. “We’re not gonna make it easy for you.”

“Come on, you banded together?!” Ethan complained, loud enough to catch Mr. Blake’s attention. He shot Ethan a warning glare, which made the boy shrink in his seat. Madi shook her head and stopped herself from rolling her eyes again. Best not to have them all question why she’d always been suspiciously quiet when it came to theories.

***

Barely a week after spring break was over, Arkadia High nearly exploded when Reese and Fox caught Mr. Blake one morning with a golden ring in his hand, playing with it for a few moments before putting it in his pocket—and within the first period, the rumours about him being married spread like wildfire.

Madi got the same text from five different people, two of them she never even talked to before.

The students had noticed that Ms. Griffin started wearing a new neckless, too, but so far, no-one was able to tell what was hanging on the chain, seeing how for the most part, she kept in securely under her clothes and only a handful of people got a glimpse of something that maybe looked like a couple of golden rings—but no-one could tell for sure, so the bold theory that she’d gotten married only got any traction with the crowd who had some real money tied up in the bet.

And those were the ones who jumped on the rumour about Mr. Blake, too. Ethan and Aden seemed to have bet the most, so at some point, they were both basically interrogating Reese and Fox during lunch hour.

“Spanish inquisitors would be proud,” Luca muttered, leaning sideways so that he was basically whispering into Madi’s ear. She giggled into her sandwich and frowned immediately. Jordan had been teasing her about Luca for weeks now and she always shot him down but damn it, maybe she did have a crush on the guy.

That was annoying. And not just because crushes were stupid and inconvenient but seriously, why did Jordan have to be right?

“Yeah, I’m foreseeing beautiful careers as police interrogators. Or in extortions,” Madi shot back as they both watched Ethan and Aden circle the table where the girls sat.

“Same difference.” Madi shrugged in agreement and smiled lightly.

Luca stole one of her grapes then with a smug grin on his face. Madi bumped her shoulder against him, feigning annoyance but she wasn’t sure if it worked, she was too busy trying to calm down the butterflies in her stomach.

***

There was only one week left in the school year and the fate of the bet was in question. Since that one incident, no-one saw Mr. Blake with any kind of ring again and the few brave souls who tried to spy on Ms. Griffin’s neckless gave in when they realised she must’ve changed the chain because it was barely visible against her skin and it never came out from under her clothes again.

The final week of classes, Madi was starting to believe that maybe it’d just die a natural death and all the bets would be forgotten. But then, out of nowhere, Hope Diyoza knocked them all out of the park on the last day before the deadline. She sent out a mass-text with a link to some paparazzi-style video of Mr. Blake and Ms. Griffin coming out of the school late one night, holding hands, kissing and then getting into the same car. The video ended with a close-up of Hope’s face, wearing a smug smirk and claiming victory.

Madi could tell the exact moment when both Ethan and Adan saw that video because one moment, they were all sitting in the cafeteria and the next, there was a lot of shouting and kicking of chairs coming from the guys’ table.

At that point, Luca was a permanent fixture at Madi and Jordan’s table and he was just as eager to tease Jordan about finally making a move on Delilah as Madi was. He was also being annoyingly cute and nice, and Madi couldn’t wait for the summer break, so she could have a chance to think about all she’s feeling without getting distracted by his smile.

“—what do you mean, we all lose?!” someone shouted, grabbing the attention of everyone in the cafeteria. All their heads snapped to the source of the noise and sure enough, there was Ethan, hanging over Rex’s head, staring daggers at everyone as the other boy analysed the spreadsheet detailing the bets. Madi, for the first time since this whole thing started, felt herself grow almost interested in what was going on, so she got up from her seat and followed Luca and Jordan to where Adan had just ripped the pages from Rex’s hands.

“Look, Diyoza isn’t on this, she didn’t pay, she didn’t join, she can’t be the winner!” he spoke in a raised voice.

Rex took the pages back and spread them over the table patiently. “Look, the rules of the bet state that whoever brings the proof first, wins the pool, that’s it. There’s nothing that says anyone had to pay an entry fee to participate.”

“It was implied—“ Ethan interrupted but shut up when Rex levelled him with a look.

“I talked to Hope and she’s willing to forfeit the prize if everyone agrees to just take their money back, no hard feeling,” Rex offered. A murmur spread across the cafeteria, followed by the sea of nods, suggesting that everyone agreed with the solution and at that point, Ethan and Adan didn’t have a leg to stand on.

“You’d think that the guys who stood to lose most would be happy to get their money back,” Jordan mused on their way back to their table. By then, Delilah had joined them, which meant that Jordan was once again invested in the bet.

“Those two just lost to a girl who’d only been going here for a year and still managed to figure out how this school works before them,” Madi explained, her lips twitching into a smile. She and Hope weren’t close but anyone who managed to cut those two down was deserving of praise.

Most of them were back to eating already but Luca was just chasing one of his cherry tomatoes with his fork absentmindedly. “They were wearing coats,” he finally said, shaking his head.

“Wha—?” Jordan mumbled around his chips.

Luca pulled out his phone and played the video again. “Coats!” he pointed out.

“So?”

He looked sideways at Madi. “It’s _June_. When was the last time you had to wear a coat as thick as this one?” Luca asked and while her friends discussed how long did Hope have that video, and if she held onto it for all that time just to humiliate them, or if she had other reasons, Madi really focused on the video for the first time.

And sure enough, Mr. Blake was wearing a dark blue peacoat, while Ms. Griffin must’ve been wearing a long dress underneath her long wool coat because her skirt was flowing all the way to the ground. The more Madi watched the video, the more she was convinced that she recognised that skirt.

But if Ms. Griffin was wearing it—and those incredibly high heels, then that would mean that that was the night that they got—

_Oh!_

***

For Madi, the summer holiday before her senior year went by in a blink of an eye. She spent most of her days in the local art centre, teaching some classes to pre-schoolers and convincing herself not to get too distracted by Luca texting her all the time, if she wanted to get good references afterwards. Her parents left her just enough money to cover her college tuition for the whole ride, if she chose a local school but the extra cash would sure be nice to have before she could find a new job.

Luckily, once the school had all-but-definitive proof of Mr. Blake’s and Ms. Griffin’s relationship and the news reached the two teachers, the pressure was gone. They were now both wearing their rings and even though there was still some giggling whenever someone caught them sitting close to one another, things seemed to have gone back to normal—or as normal as it could be in a school where kids were betting on who could spy on their teachers best.

Madi couldn’t been happier, frankly. Last year was annoying as hell, seeing how she seemed to have been the only one not going crazy over the bet and she had to come up with all kinds of reasons why she couldn’t have been bothered. Not like she could tell everyone the truth or she’d never hear the end of it.

The blissful peace lasted all the way till December, when a new rumour hit the student body. Apparently, during one of her classes with the sophomores, Ms. Griffin broke her own strict ‘no phone, for anyone, not even her’ rule and when her phone rang, she jumped on in and practically ran out of the classroom in her haste to pick up the phone privately—and when she came back, her eyes were significantly more red and glassy than they were before, and she seemed distracted in a way no-one had seen her before.

Everyone mulled over it for the next couple of weeks until it all came to head during the last assembly before Christmas break, when Ms. Griffin was suspiciously absent and Mr. Blake looked a little green around the gills. Madi left school that day already tired of everyone around her debating whether or not they were getting a divorce already and if maybe the secrecy was all that kept the flame going in their relationship.

She and Jordan were mostly watching from the side-lines, surrounded by a handful of their friends who didn’t care to get involved in that discussion and she was very pleasantly surprised to find out that Luca was one of them. So was Delilah, who at the beginning of the school year decided that she was tired of waiting for Jordan to take a hint and made the first move instead. Granted, having the two giggling and whispering while they both ( _always!_ ) occupied the chair closest to Madi and being all cute and adorable, was starting to get annoying but at least she didn’t have to listen to all the details of how once, someone saw Mr. Blake getting picked up after school but some woman with dark hair in a high pony tail.

More and more, she was struggling between the choice of strangling someone and climbing on top of a table to tell everyone to shut up because she knew exactly what was going on and they were all idiots.

Unfortunately, things only got worse when they came back to school after New Year’s because Ms. Griffin was looking more and more tired each day and after someone sent out a grainy picture of her crying while she looked at something on her phone between classes, the school became convinced, that she’d dumped her husband because apparently, that’s what not eating lunch together meant.

***

It took Ethan and Adan no more than a week to organise another betting pool and when Madi found out what it was about, Hope and Gaia had to hold her back so that she wouldn’t have decked Ethan.

“ _Divorce date_ , are they fucking serious?!” she seethed during lunch that day, poking at her chips and mashing them into the ketchup. She considered snitching on them during the first bet because even back then, it was just asking for trouble but unfortunately, there were too clever to exchange money at school and she had no proof that they were even doing anything, since Rex protected those spread sheets like they were independence—which meant that she didn’t have anything on them now, either. All she could’ve done was try very hard to keep calm and remember the promise that was made to her years ago.

***

Two days before Valentine’s Day, the school looked like Cupid threw up heart-shaped decorations everywhere and the air smelled sugary-sweet for days, as the cheerleading squad got the permission to use the school kitchen to bake cupcakes they wanted to sell in order to earn enough money for new equipment—and were working on them since the week started. By now, they must’ve had enough to feed a small army and it seemed that the smell of sugar and frosting seeped into every single thing inside the school forever. It was making everyone dizzy but Ms. Griffin seemed especially affected, as she looked sickeningly pale and exhausted.

Madi, Delilah and Hope were passing Mr. Blake’s room that afternoon, talking about the Valentine’s Day dance the school was organising on Saturday, when the door to Mr. Blake’s room opened suddenly, knocking against the wall, and Ms. Griffin practically chased out of there, as fast as she could, given that she was as white as a sheet. She had one hand clasped over her mouth and all but ran to the teachers’ lounge at the end of the corridor.

All three of them stopped dead in their tracks, their eyes following Ms. Griffin until she disappeared inside the lounge. Mr. Blake followed behind her, calling her name but stopped in the doorway when he realised she didn’t even react to his calls.

Madi felt her blood run cold, worry taking seed deep in her stomach. She shot a quick glance to Mr. Blake, whose eyes were boring a hole in the door to the lounge, and felt herself relax, just a little bit. Sure, he was worried, but there was no sign of the panic she expected and after a couple of minutes, his shoulders dropped and he exhaled a long breath. Only then did he finally notice he had an audience.

“Mr. Blake, is everything okay?” Delilah asked and from her tone, Madi could tell she wasn’t the only one worried, though she suspected it wasn’t all for the same reason.

Mr. Blake nodded slowly and even managed a small, distracted smile. Madi took a deep breath—it couldn’t be that bad if he was able to form any sort of an expression, much less a smile.

Ms. Griffin was gone for long enough that it became awkward to just stand there with their teacher, staring at the door to the teachers’ lounge, so the girls moved on, leaving Mr. Blake behind. They looked at each other in understanding, as they passed him, silently agreeing to keep this to themselves. Ethan and Aden were already driving up the stakes, since this time they decided to remain as organisers of the bet—and get the cut of the pool, instead of the participants, and if they found out that Ms. Griffin ran out of her husband’s room, they’d never let it go.

Unfortunately, even though the boys didn't find out exactly what happened that day, they still got more than enough material for rumours because as of next morning, Ms. Griffin seemed to have disappeared. The first class she was supposed teach that day was instead welcomed by a petite blonde woman, who introduced herself and Josephine Lightbourne and informed then that she’d be subbing for Ms. Griffin for the foreseeable future because she was forced to take a leave of absence.

The first class of Mr. Blake’s that day was the most talked-about event in the school and when the time finally came, the students had practically besieged his room—and if the expression on Mr. Blake’s face was anything to go by, he knew exactly what they were all doing there. He waited for the bell to call most of the students away before he opened the door and invited his class inside. According to the text Luca sent to their group chat, the tension was practically tangible. Mr. Blake apparently figured out that he wouldn’t be able to get anyone to focus on the subject at hand until he gave some sort of explanation to his wife sudden disappearance, so he started the class with a short announcement that she was having some health issues and needed some time off but everything was okay and she would be back as soon as possible.

It seemed that most of the students accepted the explanation, especially since it tracked with Ms. Griffin’s recent behaviour but for Ethan and Aden—and a whole lot of other kids who were impressively invested in the bet, that wasn’t just not good enough, it was just further proof that they were in fact having troubles, which meant that the bet was still alive and well.

Especially since, staring with the following week, that same dark-haired woman would pick Mr. Blake up from work every few days and they looked very familiar indeed.

Madi looked at all that with clenched teeth and hands curled into fists, just _knowing_ that the next few months until their graduation would be impossible.

***

Luckily, as the end of their senior year approached, she was too busy trying to pass all her exams well and get into her chosen college that she didn’t have the time or the energy to pay that bet much attention. And then, before she knew, she was picking up her cap and gown, getting ready for the graduation ceremony and rolling her eyes every time her aunt started crying, saying that she just couldn’t believe how fast did Madi grow up.

On the morning of the ceremony, the bet still wasn’t settled but it seemed that that was about to change because when the first students started to arrive, Ms. Griffin was already there, sitting on the stage behind a long table, wearing a loose flowery dress and the happiest smile anyone had ever seen on her. Even more importantly, Mr. Blake was there as well, looking a little tired and ragged but just as joyous. The students were, to say the least, confused.

They managed to focus elsewhere for long enough for Principal Kane to give out their diplomas but whatever speech he had prepared was completely forgotten when all the teacher stood up from their seats to give the kids a round of applause and everyone could see that Ms. Griffin was—

“She’s _pregnant_?!” someone behind Madi hissed loud enough for their entire section to hear. Madi snorted just as loudly and had to bite the back of her hand to stop herself from cackling. Even Principal Kane realised that he couldn’t win with that news because he wound up his speech, wished them all a great summer and good luck in college, and left the stage, along with all the teachers.

The kids settled down a little once they lost Ms. Griffin from their immediate line of sight and managed to move on to whatever photo ops their parents had dreamed up for them. Madi joined her friends, happier than ever when she saw Ethan, who looked like he was just realising that once again, he’d have to pay everyone back.

“Ugh, finally,” Madi heard Jordan groan, as she reached her friends. “This was killing me!”

Luca and Charlotte looked at him in confusion but judging by Delilah’s face, Jordan didn’t manage to keep that secret from everyone after all.

“Wait, you knew?” Luca asked and Jordan smiled sheepishly.

“Yeah,” he confirmed, rubbing the back of his neck. “My parents went to college with Ms. Griffin and kept in touch, so I knew some things.” He looked and Madi then and grinned. “But trust me, I’m not the only super-secret spy here.”

Everyone looked at Madi then, eyebrows raised all around. Madi managed to open her mouth, wondering what to say, but before she had the chance to say anything, she heard her name and turned towards the source.

She smiled wildly when she saw that Clarke was marching towards them as quickly as she could and Bellamy chasing after her, with his wife’s handbag in one hand and her phone in the other. Clarke didn’t even bother slowing down, she just barrelled into Madi and enveloped her in a tight hug. Madi could feel her ballooned belly pushing against her front and let of a tiny gasp when she realised that she could feel the baby move between them. Clarke took a step back, one hand on her belly, the other on Madi’s cheek.

“I’m so proud of you, sweetie,” she said, fighting tears. In the corner of her eyes, Madi could see that Bellamy was taking pictures-and-or-filming the entire interaction. Madi turned her head towards him and they both smiled.

“Congratulations,” Bellamy told her but didn’t lower Clarke’s phone even an inch, most likely under strict instructions from his wife not to miss one single moment.

“I know you have a party tonight but come for dinner tomorrow?” Clarke asked and when Madi nodded in agreement, Clarke pulled her in for another tight hug. When they disentangled and Clarke moved away, Bellamy finally lowered the phone, which was a pretty clear indication that the moment was over. Clarke wiped some stray tears from under her eyes and left Madi to her friends, muttering something about being old and tired.

***

It was rounding midnight when Madi went out onto the porch of Hope’s house, hoping that the night breeze would clear her fuzzy head a little. She wasn’t nowhere near drunk but if she wanted to be in any way alive tomorrow, it was probably a good idea to pace herself.

She was alone for maybe five minutes before Jordan joined her and handed her a bottle of water.

“Can you believe how much money we could’ve made if we forgot our scruples and just won that bet last year?” he mused and Madi smiled around the bottle.

“Oh, _we_? Mr. My mother found out about the bet and refuses to show me the wedding pictures?”

Jordan snorted. “Yeah, okay, fair enough. But you! You’ve known Ms. Griffin since you were six, you’re at their place every other weekend.”

“’Cause they _like_ me, I wasn’t gonna pay them back by gossiping about their private lives.” Madi teased but then sent Jordan a serious look, drumming her fingers against the bannister. “Besides, when I started high school, Clarke promised me that she won’t let anyone second-guess me or my successes because she’d been practically raising me most of my life or allow her relationship with Bellamy to change anything between us—and she didn’t. No-one but Kane knew that I had an in with two of the teachers and no-one treated me differently, so the least I could do was keep my mouth shut about her life.”

Jordan smiled at her and knocked his shoulder against hers.

“Kay, enough about school,” he announced and smirked. Madi wasn’t sure she liked that smirk. “How did Luca react when you told him?”

Madi shrugged. “Well, given our fantastic taste of friends, he wasn’t mad I kept it from him, I think he was almost impressed I managed to keep in a secret for so long.”

Jordan scoffed. “ _Dude_! How did he react when you told him that you’ll both be going to the same school in the autumn after all?”

Madi hid her head between her shoulders and groaned loudly, but Jordan didn’t let up. “Oi, you’ve been riding my ass about Delilah for more than a year. This is payback time!”

Madi looked up and sideways at Jordan. She snorted and straightened up.

“Remember that you two will be in that school, too. Be careful who you’re messing with!” she warned him, hooking her arm around Jordan’s neck and yanking him to her side, both of them laughing like crazy.

This summer was looking so much better already.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked this! thank you so very much for reading. comments and kudos will be welcomed like manna ;-)  
> come and find me on tumblr @[carrieeve](https://carrieeve.tumblr.com).


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